The Ottawa Senators have signed goaltender Joonas Korpisalo to a five-year, $20-million US contract, the team announced Saturday.
Korpisalo, 29, had a .914 save percentage in 39 games last season.
The move comes after Senators netminder Cam Talbot reportedly signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
Earlier Saturday, the Senators signed two young players ahead of next season.
Defenceman Erik Brannstrom agreed to a one-year deal, while fellow blueliner Jacob Bernard-Docker has signed a two-year, $1.61 million contract.
Brannstrom’s contract is for $2 million for the 2023-24 NHL season.
Bernard-Docker, 23, split last season with the Belleville Senators in the American Hockey League as well as the Senators.
He earned one assist and posted 11 penalty minutes over 19 games with Ottawa.
Ottawa also signed five players to one-year, two-way contracts: Rourke Chartier, Josh Currie, Bokondji Imama, Matthew Highmore and Garrett Pilon — all forwards.
Canadiens trade defenceman Edmundson to Capitals
The Montreal Canadiens traded defenceman Joel Edmundson to the Washington Capitals for a third-round and a seventh-round draft pick in 2024 on Saturday.
Montreal will retain 50 per cent of Edmundson’s salary.
Edmundson had two goals and 11 assists in 61 games last season, his third with the Canadiens.
The 30-year-old has one year remaining on his contract at $3.5 million.
Edmundson began his career in St. Louis, where he won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, before he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes before the following season.
The Canadiens traded for the rights to sign him in September 2020.
Forward Alex Belzile is also heading to a new home.
The 31-year-old from Riviere-du-Loup, Que., is leaving his home province and signing a two-year contract with the New York Rangers.
Belzile had six goals and eight assists in 31 games with the Canadiens last season.
Montreal announced a couple minor signings on Saturday.
The Canadiens signed forward Philippe Maillet and defenceman Brady Keeper to two-way contracts.
Maillet, a 30-year-old from Lachenaie, Que., played his last two seasons with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg, totalling 37 goals and 55 assists in 113 games.
Keeper, 27, had one goal and five assists in 35 games with the Abbotsford Canucks — Vancouver’s American Hockey League affiliate — last season.
Maple Leafs sign Reaves, lose O’Reilly, Schenn, Holl
The Toronto Maple Leafs added muscle by signing forward Ryan Reaves to a three-year, $4.05 million contract, according to a third person with knowledge of the deal.
In the meantime, Barry Trotz opened his tenure as Predators general manager with a major move by signing one of the game’s top two-way forwards, Ryan O’Reilly, to a four-year, $18 million contract, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The Predators also signed winger Gustav Nyquist to a $6.37 million, two-year contract, according to a second person with knowledge of that deal.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the contracts.
O’Reilly, who closed last season with Toronto and was the playoff MVP for the Stanley Cup-wining Blues in 2019, arrives in Music City after the Predators began purging high-priced veterans. They bought out the remainder of Matt Duchene’s contract and traded Ryan Johansen to Colorado.
Duchene didn’t last long in free agency. The 32-year-old centre signed a deal with Dallas for next season worth $3 million, according to a person with knowledge of the signing. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced.
Nashville also signed veteran defenceman Luke Schenn to a three-year, $8.25 million contract.
Defenceman Justin Holl left the Maple Leafs and signed a three-year, $10.2-million contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
Holl had played his entire NHL career with the Maple Leafs.
Holl was coming off a three-year, $6-million contract with Toronto.
The right-shot defenceman, a second-round Chicago pick in 2010, played three seasons with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies from 2015 to 2018.
In 2019-20, he became a regular in the Maple Leafs lineup.
Canucks bolster defence
The Vancouver Canucks are beefing up their blue line as part of NHL free agency on Saturday.
The Canucks say they have reached agreements with defencemen Carson Soucy, Ian Cole and Matt Irwin, as well as forwards Teddy Blueger and Tristen Nielsen.
Soucy, 28, spent the last two years with the Seattle Kraken — as their expansion pick from the Minnesota Wild — and had three goals and 16 points in 78 games last season.
Vancouver lured Soucy north with a three-year, $9.75M deal
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin says the 6-foot-5, 208-pound defenceman will add a physical presence to the Vancouver defence corps.
“Carson will provide stability and size to our back end,” he said. “He is a player who uses his big frame to his advantage, plays a sound defensive game and also has the tools to chip in offensively. His experience playing a man down will be a great asset for our penalty kill this coming season.”
The Canucks signed the 34-year-old Cole, a veteran of 748 regular season NHL games, to a one-year, $3-million contract.
“Ian brings a lot of experience to our hockey team and will definitely bolster our blue line,” said Allvin. “He knows what it takes to be successful in the NHL, knows how to compete, and he knows how to be a leader both on and off the ice. Bringing in someone with a Stanley Cup experience and pedigree is an important addition to our core group.”
Irwin signed a one-year, two-way contract. The financial terms of his contract were not released.
Blueger committed to a one-year $1.9 million deal while Nielsen signed a two-year, entry-level contract.
Cole, 34, spent last season with the Tampa Bay Lightning while Blueger, 28, won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Nielsen, 23, spent the last two seasons with the Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver’s AHL affiliate.
He has 52 points in 105 regular season games for Abbotsford.
The Canucks also signed former University of Alberta goaltender Zach Sawchenko to a one-year, two-way contract. Sawchenko won the 2018 U Sports University Cup with the Golden Bears.
Sawchenko has seven games of NHL experience with the San Jose Sharks in the 2021/22 season, and played 41 games for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL last season.
A former Canucks assistant coach has also found a new home.
Jason King, who worked as an assistant coach in Vancouver for three seasons before being let go at the end of the 2022-23 season, has signed on with the Minnesota Wild.
King was drafted by the Canucks in the seventh round of the 2001 NHL Draft.
Oilers add Brown
The Edmonton Oilers reunited winger Connor Brown with his junior teammate Connor McDavid by signing Brown to a one-year contract Saturday.
The 29-year-old Brown from Toronto played just the first four games for the Washington Capitals this past season because of a knee injury sustained Oct. 17.
He underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Brown scored 90 goals and has 126 assists in 448 career NHL games with Washington, Ottawa and Toronto.
The six-foot, 181-pound forward was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2012 draft.
Brown was a teammate of Oilers captain McDavid when they both played for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters from 2012 to 2014.
Lucic returns to Bruins
Veteran forward Milan Lucic departed the Calgary Flames to return to the Boston Bruins when NHL free agency opened Saturday.
The 35-year-old winger from Vancouver signed with Boston where he spent eight seasons from 2008 to 2015 and won a Stanley Cup in 2011.
His new contract was a one-year deal worth $1 million, according to CapFriendly.
Lucic, six foot three and 240 pounds, scored 35 goals and had 48 assists in 283 games over four seasons with the Flames.
He marked his 1,000th NHL game as a Flame on April 13, 2021.
Lucic has a career 233 goals and 351 assists in 1,173 games for Boston, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Calgary.
He’s also appeared in 136 career playoff games with 29 goals and 48 assists.
While veterans Lucic, Trevor Lewis, Nick Ritchie and defencemen Michael Stone and Troy Stecher hit the open market Saturday, more pressing for new general manager Craig Conroy was high-profile Flames entering the final years of their contracts.
Unable to sign 31-year-old winger Tyler Toffoli to an extension, the Flames dealt their leading scorer this season to the New Jersey Devils for forward Yegor Sharangovich and a third-round pick at the NHL draft Tuesday.
The pick was Aydar Suniev from Penticton, B.C.
Rangers, Hurricanes add to lineups
The New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes aren’t limiting their Metropolitan Division rivalry to just the ice.
On Saturday, the teams were locked in a contract signing frenzy to see who could land the most players in free agency.
The Hurricanes not only retained their starting goalie tandem of Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen and re-signed speedy forward Jesper Fast, they also made one of the bigger early splashes by signing free agent defenceman Dmitry Orlov to a two-year, $15.5 million contract.
For a free-agent class considered thin entering the day, many NHL GMs were quick out of the gate to fill their biggest needs.
The Buffalo Sabres upgraded their blue line by signing former Bruins defenceman Connor Clifton to a three-year, $9.99 million contact and former Avalanche defenceman Erik Johnson to a one-year, $3.25 million deal. The Sabres are also bringing back forward Tyson Jost — whom they claimed off of waivers last season — by signing him to a one-year, $2 million contract.
The Washington Capitals, looking to get back into the playoffs after their eight-year run ended, went bargain shopping by signing winger Max Pacioretty to a $2 million contract for next season that has $2 million in possible incentives. Pacioretty is coming off tearing his right Achilles tendon twice in the past year.
The New Jersey Devils did some internal business bringing back Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian after deciding not to tender either forward a qualifying offer. McLeod got $1.4 million for next season and Bastian $2.7 million over two years.
The Devils also acquired defenceman Colin Miller from the Dallas Stars for a fifth-round pick in 2025. Miller had an assist in 10 playoff games with Dallas.